Islamist gunmen kill 15 in Nigeria by slitting throats

SUSPECTED radical Islamist gunmen have attacked a village in northeast Nigeria, tying up men, women and children before slitting their throats and killing at least 15 in the troubled region's latest attack.

The assault happened early on Friday morning in the village of Musari on the outskirts of Maiduguri.

The gunmen, suspected of being members of Boko Haram, shouted religious slogans and later ordered people to gather up into a group, said Mshelia Inusa, a primary school teacher in the village.

Chants of "God is great, God is great" followed, he said.

Later, Mr Inusa and others saw corpses with their hands tied behind their backs and their throats cut.

Later Friday morning, an ambulance arrived at the State Specialists Hospital in Maiduguri, accompanied by a group of military vehicles, a security guard said. Agitated soldiers ordered people away, but the guard said he counted at least 15 bodies being brought into the facility's morgue.

A military spokesman later issued a statement saying only five people had been killed in the village during the attack. However, military and police officials routinely downplay casualty figures because they are under increasing pressure from their superiors to minimise the perceived effects of the ongoing attacks by Boko Haram.

Boko Haram could not be immediately reached for comment.

More than 780 people have been killed in Boko Haram attacks in 2012.

Suspected Boko Haram gunmen also attacked another village Friday in Adamawa state on its border with neighbouring Cameroon.

Witnesses said that attack focused on the town of Maiha, where gunmen also shouted praises to God while setting fire to government buildings, a school and a prison.

At least 35 prisoners were released from the prison in the attack, though 11 had been recaptured, police spokesman Mohammed Ibrahim said.

Mr Ibrahim said a civilian and a police officer were killed during the fighting.

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